Lea Michele tearfully dedicates ‘Glee’ award to Cory Monteith

“Glee” star Lea Michele choked back tears as she paid an emotional tribute to her tragic boyfriend and co-star Cory Monteith at the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The entire cast was on hand to accept the award for Choice TV Series: Comedy at the Gibson Amphitheatre, and Michele dedicated the trophy to Monteith, who passed away in Canada last month after ingesting a fatal cocktail of alcohol and heroin.

Michele thanked her fans for helping her through the last few weeks and went on to heap praise on her on and off-screen boyfriend, remembering his talent and winning smile.

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Speaking onstage, she said, “Thank you, I just wanted to be here today to personally thank all of you and tell everyone out there how much all of your love and support has meant to me over these past, very difficult few weeks… I wanted to dedicate this award to Cory, for all of you out there who loved and admired Cory as much as I did, I promise that with your love, we’re going to get through this together.

“He was very special to me, and also to the world and we were very lucky to witness his incredible talent, his handsome smile and his beautiful, beautiful heart. So whether you knew him personally or just as (character) Finn Hudson, Cory reached out and he became a part of our hearts and that is where he’ll stay forever.”